This article provides a critique of the essentialized assumptions about identity, culture and education that are found in contemporary peace education literature. Furthermore, it explores the implications that these assumptions have for teacher education in conflict and post-conflict societies. A major challenge for teacher education in conflict and post-conflict societies is how to create openings that take these complexities into consideration and create openings which address the limitations imposed by the nation-state. Finally, the authors propose the idea of teachers becoming critical design experts, in order to create openings for a renewed relationship between teacher education and peace education.

This paper documents a self-study on the authors' actions-in-practice in a peer mentoring project. The investigation involved an iterative process to improve their knowledge as teacher educators, reflective practitioners, and researchers. The authors conclude that they present their analysis of competing pedagogical tensions that were overlooked and consequently led to a less than meaningful learning experience. Recognizing and appreciating the tensions and their impacts required reflecting on their individual actions through dialogue and shared writing. The author's use of metaphors also helped them to investigate what they were each thinking and feeling.

In this self-study, two educators – a university professor and a classroom teacher, who facilitated a workshop titled “Sexual Diversity in Secondary Schools” in a faculty of education in a mid-sized Ontario city – reflect on the feedback provided by teacher candidates on workshop evaluation forms in relation to their experiences as teacher educators delivering the workshops. The authors conclude that the two-hour Sexual Diversity in Secondary Schools workshop that they presented in a Bachelor of Education program is one example of how LGBT issues might be taught to teacher candidates. Through this self-study, they came to better understand their students and ourselves. They discovered that teacher candidates are increasingly receptive to discussion of LGBT issues, particularly when portrayed in a manner that is respectful and open.

This study investigates mentor teachers’ and student teachers’ perceptions of the components of a positive mentoring relationship and its impact on the identity formation of student teachers. The findings revealed that emotional and academic support, an open line of communication and feedback were regarded as key elements of a positive mentoring relationship by both parties. However, a key difference was shown in the participants’ perceptions toward the impact of the mentoring relationship on student teachers’ identity. The research found that student teachers considered the impact of the mentoring relationship on their identity development to be highly significant, whereas only three mentor teachers held this view.

This study aims to establish how university students’ and educators’ perceptions of YouTube in two different cultures, Japan and USA, affect their intentions to use this technology. This study attempts to predict and compare factors influencing YouTube acceptance among university students and educators in two very different cultures, Japan and the USA, applying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The authors conclude that even though UTAUT’s four predictors can explain YouTube acceptance to a high degree, the influence of each predictor on YouTube acceptance varies significantly according to the cultural environment and the role of the teachers and the learners.